It’s week 9 of the high school football season and conference races are taking shape or already determined. Several old rivals play each other tonight – Friday, Oct. 18 – including Apex at Cary, Broughton at Sanderson and Orange at Chapel Hill. Nick Stevens wrote a comprehensive piece about the playoff picture titled, “With four weeks left, bubbles starting to burst.”

Most games start at 7:30 pm with a few beginning at 7. Try to make a point to get out there and support high school athletics before the season is over. There are a number of local games this week.

Temperatures dip down into the low 60s with high humidity but no chance of rain. My record in picking games last week was a solid 12-4 for a season record of 62-25. Below, the predicted winners for this week are in bold.

Local games
Apex at Cary
Broughton at Sanderson
East Chapel Hill at Northern Durham
Harnett Central at Garner
Heritage at Wake Forest
Hillside at Riverside
Holly Springs at Middle Creek
Jordan at Person
Leesville Road at Enloe
North Raleigh Christian at Ravenscroft
Northeast Academy at Cary Christian
Northwood at Southern Durham
Orange at Chapel Hill
Panther Creek at Fuquay
Southeast Raleigh at Knightdale
Wakefield at Millbrook
West Johnston at East Wake